Gott versus rectangular, false bottom verusus everything else

[brewman !]

These people seem to like their rectangular coolers better. What do the people here say about this debate ?

http://beeradvocate.com/forum/read/759645

I have a small (20L) rectangular cooler now. I need to move up to something larger. Half my batches will be 6 gallon, the other half 12 gallon. Is there a problem with having a shallow bed running 10 pounds of grains in a larger cooler ? (I am thinking 40L ish ?) Is there a better chance of a stuck bed when using the deeper bed in a Gott ?

And while we are at it, we might as well debate the copper tube pickup versus the mesh hose pickups versus the false bottoms. Which one is best ?

Thanks

 

[Todd]

These people seem to like their rectangular coolers better. What do the people here say about this debate ?

http://beeradvocate.com/forum/read/759645

I have a small (20L) rectangular cooler now. I need to move up to something larger. Half my batches will be 6 gallon, the other half 12 gallon. Is there a problem with having a shallow bed running 10 pounds of grains in a larger cooler ? (I am thinking 40L ish ?) Is there a better chance of a stuck bed when using the deeper bed in a Gott ?

And while we are at it, we might as well debate the copper tube pickup versus the mesh hose pickups versus the false bottoms. Which one is best ?

Thanks

batch or fly sparge?

 

[brewman !]

batch or fly sparge?

I guess that too has to be asked. I've always fly sparged. Is it time to reconsider that ? I like lagers and I use a multi temp mash schedule, so I have to recirculate no matter what. (HERMs)

Does batch sparging work OK for lagers ? Which is faster ? I was surprised to read that people stir the bed after pouring in the water for the second sparge. (And then recirculate to get the wort clear again ?)

I'm worried my grain bed won't be deep enough with a rectangular, especially for light 6 gallon brews. And yet I need capacity for heavy 12 gallon brew sessions.

I like the looks of the 48Q Igloo Cube coolers. http://www.montanaoutdoorstore.com/proddetail.asp?prod=6100035

I think a 10 gallon round would have a smaller area and thus a deeper grain bed.

Decisions, decisions.

 

[dantodd]

If you are using something like a bazooka you can alway tilt the cooler to give a deeper grain bed over a smaller area if you want.

As to fly v. batch sparging I understand it is much easier to evenly fly sparge onto a circular grain bed.

I think that wal-mart is the place for cube coolers these days.

 

[brewman !]

After reading this I'll be fly sparging.
http://byo.com/mrwizard/1074.html

I'm circulating with the HERM system anyway, no problem to let it run into the boiler instead of recircing.

Does anyone have the inside dimensions of a cube versus a Gott ?

Thanks.

 

[Todd]

I guess that too has to be asked. I've always fly sparged. Is it time to reconsider that ? I like lagers and I use a multi temp mash schedule, so I have to recirculate no matter what. (HERMs)

Does batch sparging work OK for lagers ? Which is faster ? I was surprised to read that people stir the bed after pouring in the water for the second sparge. (And then recirculate to get the wort clear again ?)

I'm worried my grain bed won't be deep enough with a rectangular, especially for light 6 gallon brews. And yet I need capacity for heavy 12 gallon brew sessions.

I like the looks of the 48Q Igloo Cube coolers. http://www.montanaoutdoorstore.com/proddetail.asp?prod=6100035

I think a 10 gallon round would have a smaller area and thus a deeper grain bed.

Decisions, decisions.

I batch sparge because for me it is easy, bed depth doesn't really matter if you batch sparge and you can still run herms with it. Everything will be the same except you sparge faster. I use a 70qt for 5G batches.